Police cracking down on student parties

Resident complaints the past 2 weekends prompt action

Resident complaints the past 2 weekends prompt action

September 10, 2008|By ERIN BLASKO Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — For more than 30 years, Ervin Baker and his wife lived in relative peace on the city's northeast side.

Then came the students.

"It wasn't until about the last four or five years that it all started, that we started having problems," said Baker, 66, who lives in the 800 block of East Wayne Street near Howard Park, across from what is now a student residence.

The situation came to a head over Labor Day weekend, Baker said, when a party across the street got out of hand. "I know at one time there must have been at least 50 kids (outside) over there," he said Tuesday, motioning across the street as he sat in his living room. "It was noisy. They were drinking and yelling profanities."

Baker said a neighbor on the east side of the student residence had a bottle broken on her front porch. Other neighbors claimed to have seen men exposing themselves, he said.

"It was just constant," he said of the bedlam, which lasted until about 3 a.m. The situation prompted Baker and several neighbors to call police. "We knew the way to get it taken care of was to get it on record with a complaint, so several people in the neighborhood called," Baker said.

And it apparently worked. Baker said he and other neighbors received a letter of apology from the students who hosted the party. And last weekend, he said, his street was relatively quiet.

"I really don't mind partying. But when it becomes destructive and lasts as long as it does, until 3 or 4 in the morning .Ã¦.Ã¦." Baker said before trailing off.

Wider problem What was a peaceful weekend for Baker and his wife, however, was apparently anything but for several residents living nearby.

South Bend police received numerous complaints last weekend Â? a University of Notre Dame home football weekend Â? detailing instances of "public intoxication, loud noise and trespassing associated with very large house parties, mostly concentrated on the city's northeast side," according to a news release.

In response, police this weekend will be targeting violators of the city's Disorderly House Ordinance with special patrols, South Bend police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent said.

Eight officers will take part in the Friday and Saturday patrols, Trent said, and enforcement action will be taken. "We're going to shut down parties where the homeowner has obviously lost control," Trent said. "If the house is full, and 50 to 60 people are outside, there's no way the homeowner is going to be able to say, 'Please talk quietly.' "

Last weekend, Trent said, police responded to parties at which up to 300 people were outside. Most were at student residences along East Washington, North St. Louis, and North St. Peter streets in the Howard Park area, he said.

The problem of out-of-control student parties has been an ongoing one for several years. Last year, the Common Council voted down special event legislation that would have placed regulations on large gatherings where alcohol is present.

According to Trent, as the number of off-campus student dwellings has increased the past several years, so has the problem.

Fortunately, he said, history indicates things should quiet down after this weekend. "We've done these sorts of enforcement details before," Trent said, and afterwards "We receive less complaints. The offending residents usually take the hint."